Pages

Monday, April 5, 2010

New York Times Article

I found this great New York Times article about the redundant phrases and words that our very real cancer experiences are buried under.

I have warned my friends on many occasions that they are forbidden to write "lost her courageous battle with cancer" if I die. Not that will ever happen! I just can't bear the thought of my life being boiled down to a thoughtless cliche in the end. I plan to live beyond 80 just to make sure that very thing never happens.

There is so much more to us all than those worn over words like 'battle' and if someone ever called me a 'victim' I'm afraid I'd have to tear out their throat with my bare hands.

I felt so passionate about the same subject that I wrote my cancer rant about it. Read the NY Times article here.

I love this article by Dana Jennings. I try to read his blog whenever he posts but this one definitely touched a nerve. I have decided I am going to write my own damn death notice/obituary and the memorial service and ensuing party will happen while I still can attend. And if one person talks about my struggles or battles or what ever idiotic phrase they want to stick on me, I'll still be around to tel them to shove it!

I know, right? I remember being forced to sit in a chair 6 hours a day when I was used to NOT sitting down all day at all. I would have to sit there getting my chemo, fluids, blood transfusions etc. and being told I was 'fighting' for my life.

I felt like I was sitting there waiting for it to be over. I really couldn't see where the fight or battle came in to play.

That's a great article and I'm glad it also highlights that the people around the one with cancer just don't know what to say without being corny and clichéd. That is exactly how I felt when visiting my friend when he was ill. I also hated the idea of someone 'losing their fight with cancer', as though if they had put a bit more effort in, they might have won. Stupid!

Just adding another comment - when my mother was told last year that she had breast cancer, the doctor actually told her that she had, "the good kind of breast cancer" and my mother said, "I'd really rather not have any cancer, good or bad."